eg  the  socialism  OF  TO-DAY.
On  the  3rd  of  August,  Helena  returned  to  her  father’s
house  at  Geneva.  Lassalle  intended  to  go  and  see  him,  but
the  Bavarian  diplomatist  absolutely  refused  to  receive  him,
and  when  his  wife  informed  him  that  there  was  a  marriage  in
view,  his  anger  knew  no  bounds.  He  cursed  his  daugh^r,  and
swore  that  he  would  never  consent  to  such  a  union.  Helena,
in  despair,  escaped  from  her  father’s  house  and  threw  herself
upon  the  protection  of  Lassalle,  telling  him  to  take  her  where
he  would  ;  but  he,  not  caring  to  enter  the  Dœnniges  family,  as
it  were,  by  the  back  door,  brought  her  back  to  her  mother.
With  her  ardour  somewhat  cooled  by  this  deed  of  discretion,
and  overcome  by  the  entreaties  of  her  whole  family,  the  young
girl  allowed  herself  to  be  taken  away  from  Geneva,  “  despairing,
but  resigned.”  ,  ,  •,
At  this  unexpected  event  Lassalle  became  utterly  beside
himself.  He  was  wounded  in  his  vanity,  always  excessively
strong.  That  he,  the  idol  of  women  of  rank,  should  be  forgotten ­
  by  a  girl  of  twenty,  who  but  yesterday  swore  eternal
feith  to  him,  and  who  had  given  herself  up  to  him  utterly!
Impossible  !  It  was  her  cruel  father  who  had  carried  her  off
and  shut  her  up  in  spite  of  herself.  The  question  was  how  to
free  her  by  any  and  every  means.  He  called  to  his  aid  the
Countess  of  Hatzfeld  and  his  friend  Colonel  Rüstow,  and  they
did  everything  they  could  to  move  Herr  von  Dcenniges.
Lassalle  hastened  to  Munich  in  order  to  get  the  minister  for
foreign  affairs  to  act  on  his  behalf,  and  he  promised  to  do  so.
The  countess  herself  went  to  Ketteler,  the  Archbishop  of
Mayence,  to  beg  him  to  interfere.  The  account  of  the  interview ­
  is  amusing.  The  archbishop  highly  praised  the  Socialist
agitator  ;  he  took  the  deepest  interest  both  in  his  scientific
labours  and  in  his  propagandist  efforts,  although  he  doubted
the  possibility  of  applying  his  theories  to  practice.  But  how
could  he,  archbishop  as  he  was,  encourage  the  marriage  of  a
Catholic  with  a  Jew  ?  If  even  Lassalle  would  be  converted,
there  might  perhaps  be  some  hope  of  success.
After  all,  it  was  too  late.  Overcome,  as  she  says  in  her
memoirs,  by  the  entreaties  of  her  family,  and  in  obedience  to  a
veritable  moral  compulsion,  Helena  suddenly  decided  to  marry.